Meet Zenaida, our dedicated Director of Partners for Hunger Relief & Warehouse Operations with 14 years of hard work at the San Diego Rescue Mission. Zenaida has always been passionate about giving back.

Starting her SDRM career in our retail thrift stores, she helped families find affordable clothing and household items, yet Zenaida always felt a deeper calling to do more. When she transitioned to the Partners for Hunger Relief program, she found her true purpose.

“God put me in the food recovery department, and when I started talking to the churches and hearing the stories of families in need, it made me cry. To think there are kids on the streets depending on a church just to eat… it hit me hard,” Zenaida reflects.

For Zenaida, the work isn’t just a job; it’s a blessing. “It’s so fulfilling to know that what we’re doing is more than just providing food—it’s offering hope and stability to families in desperate need.”

Through Partners for Hunger Relief, the San Diego Rescue Mission is rescuing surplus food from restaurants, grocery stores and local businesses like Chick-fil-A, Costco, and Target. Last year alone, 2.3 million pounds of food were rescued and used to feed people in our programs and redistributed to families in need across the region.

Zenaida’s husband, Joe, is also employed by the Rescue Mission, having worked here for over a decade, contributing his time and expertise as the Mission’s Facilities Director.

Zenaida’s team—volunteers and staff alike—are all committed to helping people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, with people like Manny, a former SDRM guest who now serves as a food recovery driver, and Tim, a dedicated volunteer who donated $500 for a pallet jack to support the work.

Zenaida’s story is a reminder of the profound impact people can have when they have passion for what they do. As she says, “It’s a blessing to help people in need.”